luna. luke hemmings.

chapter forty six.

Luke | Key

With all the recent drama that had unfolded over the past few weeks it was hard to concentrate on the fact that in merely a day I would be celebrating my birthday. I'd almost completely forgot until Luna mentioned it to me yesterday. Honestly, if it weren't for her gentle reminder then the 16th of July might have just passed as another day again.

I had decided against a party, we got to live that dream at Ashtons birthday; so I didn't really have anything to look forwards to or plan for ... until Luna accidentally spilled the beans and ruined the fact I was having a surprise party. She didn't outright say it, but I could somewhat connect the dots. She wasn't a very good liar.

Well, I suppose it was partially my own doing; I had asked her if she wanted to go out for dinner for my birthday and she'd fumbled her way out of it. But of course, with her being Luna, she also didn't want to sound mean and make me feel isolated on my birthday.

She was still moping about it, sitting at my desk with her feet propped up so her chin sat in her knees. Her lower lip was jutted out as she whispered at her phone.

"I didn't mean to, it was an accident, he basically forced it out of me!"

Her earphones were in so I couldn't hear what was being said on the other end of the call but I had a funny feeling she was getting scolded by Harley.

"Don't worry, he knows absolutely no details. Not a smidge, not the location, not the time, not anything. It'll still be surprise."

She glanced at me and I quickly diverted my attention back to the book in my hands so it didn't seem like I was eavesdropping.

"No he's not here, he can't hear you," she lied while side-eyeing me. "Okay, yeah I'll sort it out, okay, no Lee it's fine. Look I gotta go, I will see you tomorrow."

Luna dropped her phone onto the desk and swiveled the chair around to face me.

"You're a terrible eavesdropper," she smirked.

"And you're a terrible liar."

I stuck my tongue out at her and she got up and climbed in to bed next to me, snuggling up against me and resting her head in the crook of my neck.

"Sorry for ruining the surprise," she mumbled.

"You didn't love," I said while putting my book aside, "you just extended the excitement period.
Now I have to impatiently wait until to tomorrow to find out what on Earth you lot have done."

"Nothing bad," she smiled, pecking my cheek. "And tomorrow is technically only an hour away."

"Yes but the surprise isn't at midnight now is it?" I teased.

She shook her head, "no but the sooner we sleep, the sooner you'll waste eight hours, and the sooner it is until the surprise."

I grazed my thumb over her cheek, "sounds like you just want to go to sleep."

"Maybe."

She grinned and tapped my nose, before shutting her eyes.

"What!?" I gasped, startling her. She frowned at me and placed her index finger to her lips in an attempt to silence me. But I refused. "You're saying that you can't sit up for another hour so that we can celebrate my birthday on the first minute," I tutted while prodding her cheek.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," she yawned with a wink.

I sighed, there was no point arguing with her stubbornness. "Fine, but at least let me be the little spoon tonight; it's my birthday after all."

* * *

After what felt like only three minutes of sleep I woke up, only to find myself in a crumpled up heap of blankets alone. No sign of Luna, except for the slight dent in the pillow she slept on, and the crinkle in the sheets where she lay.

I rolled over and reached out for my phone, my room was still dimly light indicating it was either still night (and I had been woken by Luna getting up to go to the bathroom) or it was a really cloudy day. My phone told me it was the latter; 11:09am.

I wasn't exactly sure what I was expecting this morning. Perhaps my whole family to burst through the door with a cooked breakfast and balloons, or at least to be woken by my phone blowing up with celebratory messages. But waking up, alone, close to midday, didn't exactly feel much like a birthday.

Alongside the time, my phone displayed one message, from my Dad. A generic happy birthday text with an added I can't wait to see you soon kid. Had I woken up in an alternate reality? I swear 12 hours ago I had several friends.

There was only one thing for me to do, investigate. There was music playing downstairs, a playlist I could only match to my Mum. I couldn't imagine anyone else listening to Bruce Springsteen, although I wouldn't put it past Luna, she had an unusual taste in music.

Too lazy to get dressed, but also too scared that there could potentially be a party of people waiting for me downstairs, I grabbed my robe from the back of my door and slung it over my body.

My footsteps were drowned out by the music playing as I descended into the living room, and I was met with Mum shaking her hips and waving a wooden spoon dripping with a batter, singing along to Born in the USA. Her back was to me and she hadn't heard me come down yet, so I headed into the kitchen and stood behind her.

"Hi." I said relatively bluntly, and she jumped. I watched the batter fling onto the tiles behind the sink in slow motion as Mum slowly spun around on her heels.

Her fearful expression shifted to a grin as she extended her arms out as an invitation to a hug.

"You're finally up! Happy birthday!" she exclaimed as I moved in to hug her. "I'm just baking your cake right now, I'm not exactly sure where anyone else is though. Luna left about 30 minutes ago and I haven't seen your brother all morning. I would not be surprised if he was still in bed."

"Thanks."

Mum kept talking to me, things about the cake, dinner, things I wanted to do, whether I'd heard from Dad; just the generic birthday chit chat. But my mind wasn't with her conversation. My thoughts were selfish, because I knew that Luna was planning a surprise party for me, but a small part (well actually a large part) of me just wanted to wake up next to her and enjoy a cuddle and breakfast together. It didn't seem like that much to ask.

And speaking of breakfast, where was mine? I was starving. Did I have to pour my own cereal on my 18th birthday? Shocking.

"She said she'd be back before 11:30 so I'm sure she'll be here soon. What a sweetheart she is."

"Huh?" I zoned back into the conversation, probably missing the last two minutes of speech that came from Mum.

"I said Luna will be back soon. She said she'd be back before 11:30."

"Oh right. Where'd she go?" I asked.

Mum shrugged, turning back to her cake batter. "Not sure, probably food I would imagine. You should probably head upstairs and get dressed though. It's nearly bloody midday boy. Slacker." she teased.

I rolled my eyes but did as she told me; heading upstairs and changing into the typical black jeans. My fingers skimmed over my array of black band tees, as I tried to figure out whether I should go for a Def Leppard one or a Nirvana one, before I caught a glimpse of a light striped button up shirt. My grandmother had got it for my grandfather, but the shirt was too small for him so she'd gifted it for me. I'd never worn it though, it always reminded me of the Miami drug dealer style. But it was a nice shirt, and hey, it was my 18th birthday. The perfect occasion to dress up a little, right?

As I went to reach out for the door handle so I could head to the bathroom the door swung open, nearly whacking me in the face. Luna stopped abruptly in her track and gasped.